Monday, 27 December 2010

I got to thinking about my crafting year and what teh highlights have been - fave products I have discovered , events, etc...........

So for anybody who is interested this is my top ten of my 2010 crafting journey :D

At Ten...........discovering utee and all the things you can do with it thanks to Suze Weinberg :DI have enjoyed experimenting and even the singed fingers when I just 'forget' how hot it is again LOL

At Nine...........rediscovering my love of stamps thanks to the girlies over at Zuzus and Moiras amazing selection of stamps (which seem to be sneaking in to my home LOL :D )

At Eight...........Meeting Claudine and falling in love with Sticky backed canvas!!!Such a cool product if you haven't got around to using it yet!! Check out my post HERE :DMy fave technique has to be the image transfer which works fabby with scrapbook papers :D

At Seven............Rebekah asking me to design aproject for her Birthday blog hop and having so much fun with everyone :DHERES my project if anybody wants to see it

At Six.....................Discovering altered art thanks to Moira, Ginger, Zuzu and Gillian!!!The car boots and charity shops are my new fave haunts and I love finding unusual things to alter like my alarm clock, pocket watch and bottle - check out my ALTERED ART BLOG TAB to see them and other projects :D

At Five...........taking part in the Tims 12 tags of Christmas for the first time ever, and learning some fabby new techniques along the way.CLICK THIS BLOG TAB if you would like to share my journey

At Four...........Being asked to be a guest designer at the PINK BOOBY 5 CROP and getting to teach and meet lots of amazing crafters.I had so much fun and can't wait until next year :DI even had fun when I was thrown in at the deep end to take over Cals class - thanks guys LOLLots of money was raised and lots of money spent with worthy causes supported :D (scuse the pun LOL)

All of the teams are amazingly talented and I get the chance to work with fabby new products.I feel so honoured to be part of them all and would like to say a HUGE thank you for making me part of them :D

At Two............Meeting Tim Holtz, the lord of all that is grungey and distressed!!!Huge thanks to Moira for inviting me to Stitches in February :D I had a bit of a trial getting there but it was so worth it!!!I got to meet lots of fellow crafters in real life, flesh and blood, the works LOL :DBut I also met Tim!!!I don't think Moira realised what a profound affect it would have on my crafting (and my bank balance to be honest LOL) !!!

So heres the BLOG POSTS which cover the visit to snowy Birmingham and the NEC.

And in First place..........Creating my own technique :DI was in love with Viva Decor Croco from the moment I tried it and couldn't help experimenting to see what it could do :DI was amazed and in love when I realised I could make a piece of chipboard look like dichroic glass :DI searched the internet for any techniques and couldn't find anything that uses the same technique as mine :DSO HERE IT IS if you aren't bored of seeing it already LOL :Dand a few projects I have made using it HERE :D

So what have you all been up to in 2010???Why not share your top ten with us all :D

....are you following and playing along??Check out his blog HERE daily for fabby inspiration and new techniques :D

If you decide to play along visit ARTYJEN and share your tags with others who are joining in with the chance to win a prize from Jennie at The Artistic Stamper - the winner will be chosen at random and the more you enter the more chances you have of winning :D

*****This post will hopefully remain at the top for now so please see below for the latest post*****

Sunday, 12 December 2010

T!ms tag today features his movers and shapers sizzix dies, which I have been looking at for a while, but wasn't sure how to use.If your the same check out his post today as the video tutorials are excellent and really put it all in to place for me ..............my wish list is now groaning under the weight LOL

So I happened upon some grungeboard sheets I had forgotten I had bought when I was tidying last night so I decided to hand cut the bauble :DI drew myself a template and then drew it on to the grungeboard, the cut it out with a combo of my craft knife and my tonic scissors - was pretty pleasedwith myself at this point :DSo I decided to stick with my muted colour tones and cut a tag from a piece of Websters pages paper. and inked it in bundled sage and broken china DI.I addedbuttons to the bottom and lace down the side and added distress stickles in bundled sage and rock candy.

So back to the bauble!!!It started as a disaster, continued as a disaster for a few attempts but I recovered it in the end:D

I inked it with the broken china ink and edged it with walnut stain and added the crackle as per T!ms instructions - I used the grainy textured side by accident when I cut out my bauble and it looked horrible and didn't crackle properly.

So what to do?

I covered it with my trusty pearl paint dabber and dried it, sanded it back a bit and tried inking with the DI - of course you couldn't see them so I dried it off and got my alcohol inks out - they work lovely on grungeboard when it has been painted with a metallic acrylic - pearl works fabby as its nice and white which is why I bought it after seeing T!m demo in Feb :D

So I dabbed on Willow and stonewash ink and added more crackle glaze. when dry I highlighted with a bit more ink and some rock candy stickles.I didn't like how it was looking so I decided to back my cut out word with paper and glossy accents the whole thing - disaster!!!It looked awful!!

Next step - back to the craft knife and I cut all the GA and paper away from the word and sharpened up the edges. It took awhile and my finger is now sore from pressing down but it looks much better :DI stuck it on to my tag and added a sticker with a little crystal headed pin, and added fibres to finish off.

I really love how some of my tags work together but a bit disappointed that I didn't do them all in the same colour tones.So when I get chance Iam going to re-do some of them so I have a matching set :D

Well thats it for this year :(

Its the first time I have played and still can't believe that this time last year I only owned three distress inks and had no idea how to use them LOL :D

Wait until I see T!im again in Feb, and see how much it costs me next year LOL

So whats on my wish list???

More sizzix dies and embossing folders including movers and shapers and base platesA tint attacher - wanted one for ages :DAn I-top brad maker and the bits to go with it (T!m used one on last years tag)Lots more stamps,FacetsMore tissue tapeThe remaining DI I haven't got yetThe distress stickles I haven't got yet either

I could go on forever LOL

If anybody happens to bump in to Santa please remind him I have been a good girl this year (as always ;-D )

Thank you to everyone for your kind words regarding my tags and for your concerns over my health - I'm still not well, and have a feeling I may be back at the docs tomorrow for more antibiotics :(

Saturday, 11 December 2010

I can't believe there is only one day left!!!!Well todays tag involved making your own stamps from TH alterations sizzix dies.I don't have any of the on the edge dies and already have stamps of the ones I have LOLI didn't want to use my Snowman die again as it was just going to look too samey as yesterdays.

So I remembered about my Christmas set of Fancy Pants stamps which hardly ever get used appart from the occassional snowflake!!!

So I stamped on to a piece of Websters pages paper with a snowflake border and versamark ink and embossed with clear fine detail embossing powder.I then inked over it with bundled sage and broken china DI, distressed my edges and inked them lightly with walnut stain.

I had to handcut a tree out of a piece of chipboard, then inked it with my bundled sage.I used my pearl paint dabber to create a snow effect on it then gave it a quick spritz with white mica mist.I used a piece of twine from a clothing tag I had saved and tied it around the base of the tree.

When I placed my tree on my tag I realised that it was a bit small and looked lost on my tag so I added the word stamp (again from the FP set) in olive archival ink and added buttons with glossy accents.

I added some fibres and a tag I had already made with my dichroic glass technique, then pinned on a snowflake charm.I kinda like it and it goes really well with the other websters page tag I made :D

Friday, 10 December 2010

Day ten already :-O where did those days go???ahhhh they were snot filled yukky days, which T!m helped me get through :DI feel so much better since half way through this tag I answered the door in my PJ's and dressing gown (yes it was 3pm but I'm ill!!) to be told by the delivery man "Julie, you look awful!" ..........LOL , how to make a gal feel good eh???

Shhhhh but don't tell four but this is my new fave LOL :DI have the die woohoo, I have the embossing folder double woohoo :D I had the spare packaging - its my day :DThis was the easiest so far helped by the fact that all I had to sub was the stamp, brads and a scarf :D

are you all still enjoying?? I tell you, its the only thing getting me up in the morning and keeping me sane :D

Well after my posting yesterday about my issues witht he rosette die I ahd a few comments that it seemed a common problem!

So I contacted sizzix to see if it was a fault that had already been reported or not and got this response......

Thank you for your email. We haven't come across and faulty Rosette dies so far so I would just like to give you some tips on using your die first of all.

Of course if you still find that after following these tips that your die is still not working correctly then please get back in touch as we can then issue a returns form for you.

The Rosette die is a Sizzlit die therefore should only be used with paper or very thin card.

Any material other than this may put too much pressure on the die which may then cause your problem.

Another tip is to go against the grain of the card as this will mean that the crease lines are stronger and less likely to tear. An easy way to do this is to turn the paper on a slight angle when feeding it through the machine.

By folding the crease line away from the groove will also keep the strength within the crease fold.

I will try this and let you know guys, but can you let meknow how you get on too and any solutions you come up with :DI thought about adding an extra piece of paper in the sandwich so it doesn't cut as deep - but we will see how it goes...

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Well how pleased was I when I checked T!ms blog this morning and discovered that his tag today featured the rosette die that I made the decision to buy this week LOLBelieve it or not it only arrived yesterday morning :D if anybodyis after one they are still available at Country View crafts at a fab price and free P+P!!! Excellent service too - I only ordered it on Monday night!!!

How amused was I when I couldn't find the cutting mats I have to go with the extended dies???? NOT!!! I have hte base plate but where are the mats? who knows!!!I ended up using my normal bigz die one and the little ones that go in the sidekick LOL - bit tricky but it worked!!

Now that rosette isn't as easy as it looks - I think mine was cut too deep on the folds as it snapped :$Soooo repeat of the big shot performance and I managed the secon time LOL

I used different paper though - it was TH from teh seasonal pad but the one in blues an reds.

My tag was randomly stamped with various stamps and then coloured with broken china and whitamica spray - it looked too blue so I did a second wash of frayed burlap and the white mica.

I distressed the edges and then added some Fired brick highlights - repeated this on my rosette and gave it a quick spritz :D

I didn't have the letter die and couldn't decide on letters so in the end I inked some chipboard letters with the broken china, mica misted and then glossy accented.

Added fibres, some organza and a few of my fave buttons :Dadded a button and crystal on a safety pin to the fibres and some distress stickles to finish off.

I decided to dry my stickles with my heatgun and remembered while it was drying that organza melted with them - so gave that a quick blast too :D

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Woop, wooop, woooooooppppp - I had the mask today :DOk I didn't have the other elements, but the mask is the essence of todays tag :D

It was all going so well..... I decided to add the little extra sections so that my sledge was more detailed and was feeling really clever with myself for thinking about brayering it down so it was completely stuck............. but I forgot the masking tape!!!I remembered funnily enough right after I started swirling on my red ink - doh!!!! nice big corner on my tag!!! oh well,never mind I thought - I will either cover it when I ink or cut it off.

So I get my masking tape out - job done :Dfinished all my stamping and come to remove it - oh oh............it ripped the top surface off part of my tag :(

Do I start again??? Ithought about it but naaaahhh.... I stuck it back down with a little bit of GA smoothed on with my finger :D

So on to the next part where you swap tha masks - no probs, all lined up nicely and Icut a circle from eclipse tape to make a nice big moon.

When I finished my inking I removed the circle and used the piece I had cut it from to mask my inkey tag........see, I took it all in T!m ;-)I gave it a nice bit of splodging with my paint dabber and added some rock candy stickles.

I didn't have the hardware but the tag I had cut out was smaller than T!ms anyway so I decided against trying to improvise as there isn't enough space.I just added some more rock candy to the sky, cut out some roof tops from chipboard, did the cotton bud smoke like on day one (which I missed off LOL) and added some fibres to finish.

I really like this tag :Dand as the great man himself says ............."Enjoy the journey"

Tuesday, 7 December 2010

....of the improvisations LOL :DWell when I looked at todays tag I thought - hmmm thats not so hard - ok I don't have everything but I can give it a go - I think thats teh name of the game really LOL

Ok so heres my effort for today....

Well I couldn't find my sticky canvas and I forgot to stick my petals to grungeboard, so that was a good start LOLI made my own spray mists with DIR in barn door and fired brick to colour the petals.I gave them a quick spritz with mica spary in white and added some fired brick distress stickles.I glued them all down then added the leaves and twiggy bits from a bought poinsetta spray.

I don't have the woodgrain texture folder but liked the idea of using the bingo one and positioning the 25 in a convenient place ;-) ....see that was a strategic move, not a happy accident LOL

I coloured the tag allover with antique lined, highlighted the numbers with walnut stain and inked the edges with barn door.I highlighted the 25 with the red ink and stuck a frahment over it with glossy accents.

My letters have a shiney surface so I spritzed them with the left over misters and dried with my heatgun then added glossy accents.

I have to say that flower was pretty tricky - but I think it was my own fauly for not doing it properly LOL

I t wasn't my fave tag to begin with but I'm quite pleased at how it turned out :D

Well lets see what challenges tomorrow brings :D

While I was blog hopping earlier I came accross a comment of wonderful it was to work on a project that so many other were working on at the same time - I agree :DAnd I also think it must be pretty wonderful to be as talented and powerful as T!m.... who hasn't got a wish list as long as their arm yet????? LOL

Well this little baby caused me a few problems LOL :DThis is TimsWell I didn't have the embossing folder, die or the stamps but I did have some ntissue tape - but not the right one LOLso heres it turned out really dark so I decided to try reverse painting and lifted the colour off with a waterbrush. then painted in little trees with a colour lifted off a DI inkpad.By this time there was no sign of my stamping and the snowman was very dark!!I decided to coverhim with pearl paint dabber androck candy stickles..I the decided to spritz with a pearl spritz - but its a bit heavier than planned LOL :DI stapledsome lace on and my snowflake was covered in pearl paint, 3 layers of utee, rock candy stickles and a bit of bling.

Attempt two

I kept my colours a bit lighter this time but still couldn't see my stamping after I had inked the tag so I stamped over it LOLpaint dabbered the snowman again andadded dabs of it to the tag.I attempted the swag but you can't really see it becausemy plaque is a bit larger than I thought LOLI gave up at this point and decided I would do the technique required for The Compendium of Curiosities challenge on Studio L3So I rock candied the plaque as per page 47 ;-)

Thsis has to be my fave xmas Scrolls Work stamp as its just so beautiful and crisp.If you want to get your hands on one its called Madonna & child (#8052)

I created the tile and then was stuck at first as to what I was going to mount it on to - its too heavy for a card and needed to be a piece of art.It was at on my acrylic mounting block while I did something else and it hit me that a block was perfect.I had a brand new block so attached it with The Ultimate glue and put some heavy items on top to make sure it stuck fast while it dried :D

Ok, so do you want to know how I made the plaque??Heres a close up first :D I started by stamping the image in black Stazon on to a piece of acetate a little bit larger than the image and put to one side to dry.Next I cut a piece of chipboard (greyboard) to the same size as the stamped image.I treated it with my faux dichroic glass technique as described HERE with platinum Viva decor croco and alcohol inks in shades of blue green and purple.

When dry and cool I covered the glazed chipboard in a thin layer of glossy accents just squiggled on, then took my acetate image and placed it over the top wiggling it gently and pressing down gently so that the glossy accents was sandwiched evenly. I then put my stamp block on top and weighted it to make sure it dried flat.

When the glue was dry I trimmed away the excess acetate with my TH tonice studios scissors, which are nice and sharp and non-stick so any wet glue just wipes off cleanly.

Sunday, 5 December 2010

Well I didn't have any of todays elements except the inks so I totally improvised LOL :DHere's T!m's....I decided against numbers because I didn't think they worked with my Scrollswork stamp (its Holly again :D)I inked my tag as T!m describes HERE and did the edges the same.my chippy heart was painted with green acrylic paint then given a coat of rock candy crackle glaze. When dry I rubbed aged mahogany DI in to the cracks and highlighted the edge with my pearl paint dabber.The twine is from a clothing tag and the little charm is coloured with Viva Decor Inka gold (you may have noticed I love Inka gold :D)

Still incredibly snotty here and gonna pay a trip to the docs tomorrow me thinks - my sinusitus is BAD!!!

I agree when he says it will take a few attempts to do the effect on the facet - but the trick is keep blotting. I thought I had blotted enough but I wasn't so started it again a few times before I realised :D

I love this one so much I am entering it on the Simon says stamp and show weekly challenge :DHave fun everyone,Hug'n'snogs,Julie xx

This is one of my pieces for the Scrolls Work stamps design team.I stamped Small ruffled feathers (#4074) on to a piece of fibre paper with black archival ink and coloured in with promarkers very lightly then highlighted with sakura glitter pen.I glued this on to a domino with a glue stick and cut round with a craft knife. I sanded the edges with an emery board then inked with black acrhival ink.I pressed it down in my versamark ink pad then coated in utee and heated. While hot I sprinkled on more utee and heated again and repeated this until I had a nice thick glaze.While hot I pressed in the stamp and left to cool.When cooled I removed the stamp then heated the face area until it was smooth again.Next I coloured a piece of grunge paper with vive decor inka gold in platinum then stamped in the black ink with Wings -2 (#2502).I pressed this in to the versamark and coated in utee giving it two coats.Again while hot I pressed the stamp in to the utee to create texture.When cold I craked the glaze by getly bending then glued the wings on to the back of the domino with Crafters pick - The Ultimate glue from Happy Daze.

Next I bent a flat filigree charm gently against the bottom of the domino nad glue on. When dry I added charms and beads.

lastly I added a glue on bail ready to hang on a chain or even on a keyring or bag charm.

I really love todays tag and really happy with how it turned out :Dnow heres T!msI didn't have the branch or the trim but love how my tissue tape flower turned out :D have to say it was pretty darn tricky!!!And my tag is wayyyyyy smaller LOL :D

Still chocker with this cold and madethe huge mistake of blowing my nose on the tissue I had olbas oil on before - ouchie!!!

Oh and I forgot to mention THESE!!!If you are struggling walking on the snow and ice believe me - these are £15 well spent :D

Friday, 3 December 2010

This is a little shadow box that Moira from Happy Daze sent me to play with awhile ago, which has a nice smooth surface perfect for stamping and inking.Through out I used the gorgeous Scrolls Work stamps :D

I started by dabbing on Ranger paint dabber in pearl on to the Sheet music stamp and stamped all over the outside of the box.I then inked the whole box with Bundled Sage and Forest Moss distress ink pads and a Ranger blending tool making the edges darker.I then randomly stamped Pinecones (#8057) in olive archival ink over the lid.I stamped Holly (#8050) on to a piece of scrap card stock twice with the archival ink.The first image I cut the main image away from the circle border the coloured by lifting colour from my distress inkpads with a waterbrush pen - it give a lovely water coloured effect.When dry I added the red stickles to the berries.I stuck here dire3ctly to the lid of my box using the ultimate glue.Next I cut the banner sections taking more off the second one to create a decoupage effect I inked them then layered with 3d foam and stuck to the lid of my box.

I painted the inside with Viva decor Inka Gold in green lava watered down a little with my water brush.I used a little to highlight the edges of the box too and to cover the areas I couldn't get my ink in to.

I then stamped my sheet music stamp again in the archival ink on ascrap piece of paper which I tore to the size needed to fit in the box. I inked it with antique linen distress ink and stuck to the back of the inside box.I glued a bunch of florist holly and berries in the corner with the ultimate glue and added a little battery operated tea light behind the stamped girl.

It makes a very pretty ornament with the light flickering away :DHope you like it,hugs'n'snogs,Julie xx

Hi everyone,I loved Tims tag so much yesterday I had to play again with my lovely Scrolls Work xmas stamps :DSo for this one I used Happy Holidays (#8oo8) Sheet Music (#7104) Bells (#8056) Lady flourish silhouette #1 (#2557)

I used the custom inkpad technique for the bells as Tim demos HERE`The lady flourish was just inked on the swirl sections around the edges of the tagThis tag is exactly the same except I used antique linen distress ink on the background - I think I prefer this one as you can see the colours I have used to fill in the stamp better.I again used my distress inks and picked up the colours with a waterbrush pen.

My house was cut freehand from two pieces of chipboard in a very random fashion.

I inked the body of the house with Rusty hinge then embossed with Rusty Hinge distress powder.

The roof was inked with stormy sky then embossed with Soot Black distress powder, then highlighted a little with the pearl paint dabber.

I highlighted the snowy areas with glossy accents and added the Martha Stewart glitter then when dry added frosted lace stickles.

The trees stapled on I bought online and are meant to be used as cake decorations.

I then stamped the TH stamp Christmas Miracle on to a piece of scrap cardstock in black archival ink. I cut out the word "believe" and the little calendar page then inked with antique linen, barn door and forest moss distress inkpads.

The word "believe was stapled to the edge and the little calendar was attached with a memo pin.

The last thing I did was highlight a few edges with the pearl paint dabber and added a piece of lace to the tag hole.

Its not as pretty or as technical as Tims, but I'm happy with it :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

P.S. I have just spotted a link to some fabby Christmas tickets to print if like me you don't have Tims stamp HERE

P.P.S if you have a go why not share your creations on ArtyJens splinter group HERE :D

About Me

I've been a paper scrapbooker since 2004 and also like to hybrid scrap.
I'm just trying to learn digi scrapbooking - but it may take a while.
I have always enjoyed arts and crafts from a young age and have dabbled in most things from knitting, jewellery making, card making etc...
I'm also loving altered art and am a Tim Holtz newbie addict :D
I'm a vintage girl trapped in a modern world, so I'm just going to alter it bit by bit :D